


The Rockets Red Glare, The Bombs Bursting In Air

by DixieDale



Category: Clan O'Donnell - Fandom, Hogan's Heroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-10 10:39:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19501192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DixieDale/pseuds/DixieDale
Summary: Peter and Andrew on the outs with each other?  Surely not!  Well, as unlikely as it would seem, that appeared to be the case, and Caeide was determined to get to the bottom of it!A seasonal slice of life at Haven.





	The Rockets Red Glare, The Bombs Bursting In Air

It was July, a lovely warm and pleasant time at Haven. Lambing and the spring calves and the foaling was all behind them, the first-crop shearing over, the next not yet in sight. Crops were all planted, in the fields and in the various gardens, and indeed the gardens already providing their bounty to Haven's table and larder. The early fruit had been harvested and either made into luscious pies and cobblers and cakes or put up for the coming winter. Winter - so far in the future to the relaxed mind that you only took it on faith that there would BE winter again. 

It should have been a quiet time, one with picnics and games and laughter scattered plentiful amongst the daily chores. Instead, the air was tense, snipping and sharp words and indignant sniffs filling the air instead of gentle laughter and teasing. Even the children were affected, the older twins far too quiet, then fretful and increasingly concerned. There was trouble at Haven, and Caeide was determined to get to the bottom of it.

They'd been so quiet the past couple of weeks, the older twins, Jamie and Louisa, hardly a smile between them. Caeide had her mind on a multitude of things, so perhaps didn't pick up on it immediately. Well, Maude and Marisol were off to London, taking advantage of the early summer slow spell at Haven for dealing with some long-delayed errands and extended visiting. 

Even with it being a relatively easy time, work wise, still, them being gone, it put quite a bit extra on her shoulders, and the guys were . . . Well, she couldn't say they weren't doing their part; it's just that they weren't working together on the bigger chores, like usual. That meant she had to be on hand to be the second pair of arms, second pair of hands on any of those projects, as well as her own chores. 

Yes, they tried to pick up the slack, taking on some of her work, but only if she reminded them, and frankly, there was a reason they parceled out the various jobs as they did. There were things they each just did better. 

Still, more than not, it was them each working alone, or Caeide working along side one of the men, less and less the two men companying each other, and even more rarely the three of them together.

No, regarding the children, she'd frankly thought, at least at the beginning, that Jamie and Louisa just had a bit of the summer doldrums, that odd little space when the seasons and the routines shifted, and their minds and bodies hadn't quite adjusted yet. Even the younger set, Karl and Kat, seemed a little off schedule, a little more fussy, tummies not as content after feeding, a little easier to be disturbed during their naps, a little more difficult to put down for the evening's sleep.

She made a point to talk to her mother, Felane, on their next call, see if that was common. She hadn't experienced it with the older two before, but maybe with this being the first summer with them having siblings demanding some of the attention, maybe that had something to do with it. Motherhood was truly a learning experience, she'd found.

And, admittedly, she'd been increasingly distracted by Peter and Andrew acting even sillier than usual. It wasn't just the working together, or lack thereof. It was the snipping and sniping, teasing that was perhaps a little more biting than need be, caustic remarks accompanied by pursed lips and averted glances, stiff refusals when a game of cards or checkers was suggested. There was no sitting shoulder to shoulder, their posture now often even turned slightly away from each other, eyes not making contact. 

Even the evening drink - if one brought out the whiskey bottle and the scones, the other would poker up and want Scotch and crisps or popped corn; if the Scotch and popped corn made an appearance, there was the reversal, the one who demanded that the night before now insisting on whiskey or bourbon, and "something sweet for a change!". In frustration, SHE'D taken to just getting out one of each bottle at the beginning of the evening, wondering what on earth had gotten into them. And as for the snacks, she wasn't inclined to put out a buffet, only to find that nothing there pleased them anyway, so she let them each get their own from the pantry! Really!!

She'd even started looking through the recipe books to find some sort of 'summer tonic' to deal with men who'd obviously decided to get up on the wrong side of the bed for most of the month of June, it now extending into July. Separate beds, actually, since, when she thought about it, she didn't think the two had shared beds since mid-June. Oh, she'd been visited by each, but not by both at the same time, and she'd no indication there had been any traffic between their rooms either.

She'd tried a few meals of spicy bitter greens with pork, which usually worked as a mild tonic. Well, it was chock full of nourishment and vitamins, and gently inflamed the senses along with, so it should have helped. But not this time. 

The rhubarb wine hadn't helped, nor the special herb teas, and now the twins were starting to pick at each other, and she was picking up odd little fragments of converstion that made no sense. Why on earth would they be quarrelling about something like THAT?? Oh, Peter and Andrew could come up with the oddest things, yes, but the twins??

So, she made a cold infusion of their sweet well water and summer berries, added some fresh lemon balm, pulled out some fat oatmeal cookies from the pantry and gathered Jamie and Louisa onto the loveseat in her reading nook. Pouring them each a glass of the cold drink, handing them each a cookie, she waited til they started talking about this and that. 

Gradually she drew them out, and she was relieved when the words pertaining to the tense atmosphere finally started drifting out. Relieved, at least at first, that they were opening up, though that was scarcely the ONLY emotion starting to swell inside her. What on earth??

"Sweethearts, your Da and Daddy Andrew DON'T hate each other, I promise. They love each other, very very much, just as they love YOU both very very much. Neither are going to leave! Why would you think that?"

She listened, at first puzzled, then appalled, and then serious annoyed. No, not mad. She rarely got truly mad at either of her lads, and she was used to them failing to really think before they acted, but had they no sense at all??!

Well, maybe she WAS getting a LITTLE mad. In fact, she was more than a little tempted to go tell them a quick thing or two, right after she dashed the tea kettle upside both their heads! Why, the two idiots!!!

But obviously, since Jamie and Louisa were already so upset and worried about two of their parents quarrelling and being on the outs, adding the third parent into the fight wouldn't improve the situation substantially.

Still, the temptation to take her two men out to the horse barn and really let loose was almost overwhelming. 

But, first things first. 

"No, your Da talking about the 'bloody ungrateful upstart colonists who started the whole bloody thing' doesn't mean he's really mad at Daddy Andrew. And, no, Daddy Andrew didn't really mean your Da is a 'geezly selfish tyrant just like your old King George', just because your Da claimed the last half cup of coffee from the pot that morning."

"And, really, Jamie, it was NOT Daddy Andrew's fault the United States didn't back up England right at the start of the war, no matter how it sounded. He wasn't in charge, you know, didn't have any say. And, Louisa, your Da is NOT an idiot for letting England treat him so badly. Over-forgiving, perhaps, which points to his generous nature, but not an idiot."

"No, your Daddy Andrew isn't an idiot either. Well, yes, I know your Da and me both said we shouldn't have firecrackers and those pretty firewords on his Independence Day holiday; that Andrew should be content with those 'hot dogs' that he insisted on, and the special ice cream desserts instead, and those pretty little paper explosions we made for the table. And maybe Daddy Andrew didn't think things through before he set them off anyway. But he only meant them for a happy surprise, thinking your Da would change his mind once he saw how bright and sparkly they were. He didn't MEAN for us to have to spend the next three days hunting down the horses and the sheep and the other livestock from hither and yon when they got so panicked. He didn't mean to put the cows off their milk, or for the chickens and ducks and turkeys to stop laying; he just didn't think. Just as Andrew didn't think before he told your Da that it "serves you right!" when your Da threw that bucket of water on the last bunch of firecrackers and he got that face full of smoke. I'm sure he didn't really mean it. Neither of them were really thinking about what they were doing and saying, about how it looked and sounded, that's all. That happens to all of us sometimes, you know."

She grimly thought, {"and both your fathers more often than most!"}

Yes, the tea kettle just might not survive once she'd settled in to deal with those two!!!

They weren't totally mollified; it seems the two children had noticed the rift even earlier than she had, perhaps at a visceral level, and it had worried them greatly. Though they hadn't talked about it to the adults, they certainly had to each other! Even discussed it with Karl and Kat, it would seem, though what the two babes made of it all, one could only wonder.

Caeide struggled for a way to explain. "Sometimes people, even adults, maybe especially adults, get caught up in their emotions and forget to think. They just keep getting themselves in deeper and deeper, instead of pulling back and taking a good look at things."

"Remember when the two of you had that quarrel, about whether Kushan the Horsetamer would have been better at taming a rogue Pegasus than Medara ru Dragan? Remember how angry you each got, even though Kushan and Medara lived a good three centuries apart from each other? AND, as far as the records go, there was no mention of either of them ever encountering a Pegasus, rogue or not?"

"Remember how silly you felt when you finally sat back and realized how bad all those angry feelings and hard words were making each of you feel, and how you weren't changing each other's minds anyway, and how much it was spoiling the fun times you had together? Well, that's how silly those quarrels are between your Da and your Daddy Andrew, and that's just how silly they are going to feel once they realize it." 

And they WERE going to realize it, and pretty damned fast, if SHE had anything to say about it!

Big eyes centered on her, blue-green and golden-brown, the twins obviously thinking about what she said. She thought ruefully that it was much easier to get some serious thinking going with THESE two than it might be with her OTHER combatants.

It seemed these two were more than willing to be mollified, though, and by the time the pitcher of fruit-drink was gone, the two were back on good terms with the situation, happy with the idea that it was all a misunderstanding that would soon be forgotten. 

"We'll explain to Kat and Karl, Mum. They were worried too, I bet," Jamie assured her, with Louisa nodding firmly in agreement.

"Are you going to make some drinks and treats for Da and Daddy Andrew too, and explain things to them?" Louisa asked, her eyes now starting to droop as their nap time was a little past due.

There was a certain grimmness in Caiede's eyes, but her voice was gentle as she assured them, "oh, aye, that I will, loves. A little drink, a little explanation; we'll see about the treats, though. Now, you two run off for your naps. Shouldn't wonder if things aren't a bit improved when you wake up."

{"Even if there are a few bruises showing!"}

And with all four children safely down for their naps, Caeide firmly collared her OTHER two for a good talking too. Oh, she didn't take them out to the horse barn, she made do with the kitchen table. For one thing, she didn't like leaving the children alone in the house, and that horse barn had too many lovely memories to go mucking it up with THIS nonsense. She just posted Estelle at the top of the stairs, for safety's sake, and made a pot of strong coffee, got down the bottles, and, despite her inclinations, put a tin of fat walnut cookies on the table, and issued a strong order.

"Your arses! In those chairs! And now, if you please, my fine buckos!"

Meeting each other's eyes for the first time in many, many days, Peter and Andrew realized they were on the same side of at least one thing - their Caeide's wrath! 

Well, if nothing else, it restored at least a touch of camaraderie that had been missing lately. That didn't quite offset the trepidation at the sight of the fire in those brown eyes facing them, though.

They'd listened, reluctantly, tried arguing a few times, pointing a finger of blame at the other a few times as well. And yes, ended up with that tin tea kettle bouncing off their thick skulls a time or two. Oh, she'd started with that heavy wooden spoon, but when she'd snapped the handle of that (and it had been her favorite!), she'd pulled out the heavier artillery, so to speak.

By the time they heard Estelle give a warning bark, indicating the older twins were once more up and about, they were giving each other sheepish grins while rubbing a few sore spots. 

"No, you sit still, Caeide-luv. Think maybe Andrew and me should go visit with Jamie and Louisa a bit. Maybe see if they'd like to take a walk up to the pond, see if we can spot any fish or frogs or whatever. Last time Louisa swore she saw a pair of Gwragedd Annwn, which I 'ave to doubt, but around 'ere, you never know. Lovely water maidens, frollicking around without a stitch on, now that would be something. Maybe THEY don't 'ave such a 'eavy 'and with the tea kettle, eh, Andrew?" Peter teased with a grin at Andrew, and a smirk over at Caeide.

Caeide hurrumphed in amusement. "Yes, and maybe they have a more DIRECT way of dealing with the likes of you two. You just might keep that in mind!"

Andrew's eyes were getting larger, looking from one to the other, focusing on the first point, if not the second.

"Really, Caeide? I mean, could there really be? Louisa ISN'T just imagining she saw them?"

She pondered that a moment. 

"Well, Andrew, you never can tell. You two just might remember that empusa, though, before you start getting too enthralled with the notion of beautiful unclad water maidens. As I remember, that didn't go all so well for a time; you have to consider whether the afterglow is worth the after-math! And, you'll have two children with you; you have to think of them as well."

Peter and Andrew exchanged truly confused looks at all that. Sometimes, with Caeide, you were just never sure when she was teasing or giving a fair warning. They glanced back at that raised brow, the arms akimbo, and decided it really didn't matter. They weren't going to risk guessing and being wrong, and, besides, there WERE the children to consider. 

Feeling quite pleased with themselves, they headed upstairs to reassure their Jamie and Louisa, propose that little outting to the pond, and, looking at each other rather sheepishly, getting all ELSE back on an even keel. 

Downstairs Caeide snorted to herself, shaking her head, while she prepared a quick impromptu basket to send along with her wandering four-some. 

"Maude and Marisol will have quite a few words to say about THIS little episode, I'm sure!"


End file.
